


Party Foul

by TigStripe



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fic Exchange, Flustered Barry Allen, Inappropriate touching, M/M, Polyamory, Public Humiliation, Tolivarry, prank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 17:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17349857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: Barry's first time at a Star City Elite party goes poorly. Tommy and Oliver play a little joke on Barry to help him relax.





	Party Foul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Green_Sphynx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Sphynx/gifts).



> Written as part of a fic exchange with Green_Sphynx, hoping to bolster the Tolivarry community!

Star City wasn’t a huge, sprawling metropolis, but some of the region’s most influential movers and shakers called it home. As one might expect, high-brow parties were a commonality, complete with pompous laughter, way too expensive jewelry, and champagne in crystal flutes. Most attendees to these soirees didn’t have plus ones, because each person was invited individually. But the worst part?

Barry didn’t know a single soul.

“‘You’ll do fine,’ they said,” Barry whispered to himself, adjusting his tux jacket as he surveyed the sea of unfamiliar, well-made up faces, “‘They’re just people with money,’ they said. I feel like I’m on Mars.”

Oliver and Tommy had somehow managed to drag Barry away from Central City for this little shindig, bought him a tux (what CSI needs a tux?), and primped him to perfection, with Thea’s help. It was Barry’s understanding that they were going as a trio, like they did everything else, but the moment their designer shoes hit that room, both of Barry’s arm candy had split off in totally different directions, vanishing into the crowd.

It had become a game of survival to Barry, who knew the best thing to do when you get lost is to stay put and await rescue, but cursory glances around the room told him that rescue wasn’t going to happen. He could see Tommy talking with a young, fresh-faced couple in pearls and diamond rings off to one side of the room. Oliver was no better, chatting with who appeared to be someone Barry recognized from Star City’s Mayor’s cabinet. Barry sighed, resigned to weathering this party alone, despite it being his boyfriends’ idea.

“Have some champagne, it’ll ease you into it,” an older woman suggested with a warm smile. “This must be your first soiree like this.”

“Oh.” Barry smiled back to her. “Is it that obvious?”

The woman laughed, a pleasant, genuine sound compared to most of the showboat laughter Barry heard from everywhere else in the room. “Oh, my dear, you stand out like a fish in a tree. But they don’t last long, and usually have enough drama along the way that it all turns out fine in the end.” She looked around. “Did I miss the young woman you came with?”

Barry chuckled, pulling down on his jacket a little. “No, ma’am, I’m here with Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn.”

The woman’s eyebrows lifted into the grey curls that covered her forehead. “Oh, I see. It was nice of them to invite a friend.”

“I’m their date, ma’am.”

The woman faltered for a moment, then shook her head. “Oh, no, that won’t do, at all! How dare _both_ of them leave you to fend for yourself! Come with me, dear, we’ll see to it that they get what’s coming to them.” She took Barry by the hand and started leading him up toward the stage. He soon realized she intended on _taking_ the stage with him, and he pulled back.

“No worries, dear, I’ll gather them for you,” the woman said, stepping up onto the stage herself. She approached the microphone and raised a gloved arm to gather attention. “Would Mister Queen and Mister Merlyn please attend to their date? He’ll be up near the stage. Thank you.” The string quartet behind the stage had stifled themselves, playing at a delicate pianissimo until she stepped away from the microphone. Soon, the room returned to its regular state.

Barry could tell his face had turned a deep crimson, and he wished he could just flash out of the room. That option was obviously off the table in a room this crowded. People were staring at him, making him feel even smaller, until he heard a familiar voice to his left.

“Barry? Everything okay?” Oliver asked as he slipped between two older gentlemen in a heated discussion about tax levying. He approached Barry, concern spread across his face.

“No, I’m fine,” Barry blurted. “I didn’t ask her to do that-”

“Old Mrs. Kord-Zaminski does something like that at every party she attends,” Tommy replied from behind Barry. “I wouldn’t worry about it, babe.” He put his arm around Barry’s shoulders and kissed him on the cheek, which only made Barry’s blush intensify.

“We’ll laugh about it later,” Oliver added with a smile. “I am sorry we left you alone like that. I guess old habits die hard.”

Barry nodded, not sure how to respond to that.

“We should make it up to him,” Tommy offered, giving Oliver a mischievous grin behind Barry’s back. Oliver smiled, but quickly dismissed it by clearing his throat.

“Right. Let’s, uh, let’s go introduce him to some of our old friends.”

“Ooh, how about Grayson?” Tommy was already pulling Barry along by the shoulders, shuffling him through the crowded room of elaborate party gowns and tailed jackets. It wasn’t long before they stood in front of a handsome young man in a perfectly fitting navy tuxedo, actively flirting with a large group of young men and women.

Oliver cleared his throat. “Sorry, everyone, can we steal Dick for a moment?”

No one dared say no to a Queen in Star City, and the group quickly dispersed, leaving Dick Grayson staring at the three of them with a raised eyebrow. “Can I help you, Oliver?”

“We wanted to introduce you to our date,” Tommy said, indicating the man around which he’d wrapped an arm. “This is Barry Allen. Barry, this is our friend Dick Grayson. He’s from Gotham.”

“Eh, Bludhaven nowadays,” Dick replied with a shrug. “I got invited by an ex. Not even sure where she is. She just wanted eye candy on her arm when she walked in.”

Oliver clapped a hand on Barry’s shoulder and smiled over at Dick. “Well, we wanted to make it up to Barry for leaving him when we got here, and we thought you’d be the guy to introduce him to.”

“Any way you could help?” Tommy asked. He winked, a movement Barry didn’t catch.

Dick smirked and put his hands on his hips. “Sure, I think I can. Tell me about him.”

That was a strange request. Why couldn’t Barry tell about himself?

Tommy pretended to think for a moment. “Well, for starters, he works with the Central City Police Department as a CSI.” Tommy kneaded his fingers into Barry’s shoulder as he talked, not too far off from a massage. “He’s super smart. Genius, really.”

Barry made a noise, pink rising up into his cheeks. “I’m not that smart.”

“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Barry,” Oliver added with an innocent smile. He reached over and put a comforting hand on Barry’s arm - then started to rub his thumb in little circles over Barry’s bicep. “You’re a lot smarter than either of us. And you keep in such good _shape,_ too.”

Barry looked down at Oliver’s thumb, but didn’t move away from it. “I, uh-”

“He’s a runner,” Tommy told Dick with a little flourish. “Runs everywhere. He’s got, like, four percent body fat. Crazy toned.”

Dick chuckled. “Really? That’s impressive, Mister Allen.”

“Just call me Barry.” Was it getting warm in here? Why were Tommy and Oliver being so physical?

Oliver leaned in and gave Barry a quick peck on the cheek. “And I know I’m not usually one to spout off like this, but look at his face, Dick. Look at it.”

“It’s cute,” Dick admitted with a nod. Barry’s face went full red this time.

 _“And he can sing,”_ Tommy added. “Voice of an angel.” His hand had moved down to the small of Barry’s back, where it moved across and grabbed him from the far side of his torso.

It was apparently Oliver’s turn to embarrass him. “He can sing _and_ dance, although he’ll fight you about the dancing part.”

Barry rolled his eyes, but he smiled. “I don’t dance.”

“Just because you _don’t_ doesn’t mean you _can’t,_ babe,” Tommy said, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek of his own. “But you know, back to the running thing.” Tommy’s hand moved even further sound until it cupped Barry’s ass. “I didn’t know running could turn your ass into _this.”_

Barry jumped as Tommy tweaked his right cheek, right there, in the middle of the party, his face going scarlet. Dick laughed. “It can do that, yeah.”

“Guys, what is going on?” Barry asked, looking to Oliver and Tommy in turn.

“We’re just helping Dick get to know you, is all,” Tommy supplied. “He’s a _good friend_ of ours, and sometimes he helps us vet our dates.”

Barry swallowed hard, his face turning beet red. Did that mean what he thought it meant? He gave Dick a nervous look. Dick responded with a wink and a mock kiss. Barry suddenly found himself staring at the floor, wide-eyed.

“So, what do you think?” Oliver asked. “Does he pass?”

Dick walked up to Barry and proceeded to pace around him, surveying him up and down. “Well, he’s cute, for sure, with what looks like a great, lean frame. Love the hair. Thea’s work, I assume?”

Oliver affirmed that statement with a polite tilt of his head.

“He sounds like a catch. Is he good in bed?”

Barry whipped around and stared at Dick with wide eyes. “Sorry, _what?”_

Dick shrugged innocently. “I’m just trying to find a fault, Central Cutie.”

“He’s pretty amazing,” Tommy whispered loudly. “Kind of insatiable, really. He’s lucky there’s two of us.”

Dick looked at Oliver for confirmation, who shrugged and nodded with a smirk.

“And then there’s this _thing_ he does with his hand,” Tommy said, holding up two tightly-pressed fingers.

 _“Stop,”_ Barry hissed, pulling away from them all. “That’s enough. Why don’t you guys tell me what’s going on here? It’s like you’re putting me on display, and I don’t like it.”

Oliver looked at the floor for a moment before looking up at his date. “You’re right. We went too far. Sorry.”

“It’s my fault,” Dick said, holding up open palms in a peaceful gesture. “It’s a game Tommy plays, and I guess Oliver knew about it, where I hear them talk up their date and give them my seal of how hot they are. They wanted to embarrass you, and maybe make you feel good about yourself, not objectify you.” He shrugged. “I was gonna give you a nine out of ten, if it makes you feel any better.”

Barry fumed. It didn’t.

Tommy looked over at Barry with concern. “I’m sorry, Barr. I got carried away.” He sighed. “It was probably the ass grab. It’s always the ass grab. Your ass is _really_ nice.”

“It was supposed to be a prank, and it wound up not being funny,” Oliver admitted. “Can you forgive us?”

Barry crossed his arms and averted his eyes. “Never again?” he asked.

“We promise.”

Barry sighed. Tommy _was_ prone to go overboard when given the opportunity, but Oliver wasn’t without fault here, either. At least he was apologizing, too. “Fine. No harm done. Just...not in public. Jeez.” He shivered.

Tommy stepped up and hugged Barry tight around the shoulders. “I didn’t mean to make you upset. I really am sorry.”

“Does this mean we don’t get to party together?” Dick asked, a frown cast across his face.

“Dick, we were never going to party with you,” Oliver muttered, unamused.

Tommy laughed. “Right, even though we didn’t make anything up. He really is pretty amazing in bed.”

Barry slapped him on the shoulder.

Tommy cringed, but his grin persisted. “Worth it.”

Once he stopped participating in a prank, Dick turned out to be a pretty okay guy, and the rest of the party went by in a flash. By the end of the night, all four of them were talked out and ready to go home. As the trio parted ways with Dick, Barry bumped Oliver in the shoulder. “So. I’m amazing, huh?”

“I’d say so. So would Dick. Nine out of ten, huh?”

“He was pretty easy on the eyes, too.”

“Oh, he’s one of the most handsome, likable people I know,” Tommy agreed.

Barry took Tommy’s hand and kissed Oliver on the cheek. “I liked all those things you guys said, though. It was weird at the time, but looking back on it, it kinda felt good to be the object of pride for once.”

“For once, he says,” Tommy muttered, shaking his head.

“We should head home and you guys have me show you just how amazing I am.” Barry said, giving Oliver an eyebrow wiggle and a playful grin.

Oliver laughed. “Is this your way of asking if we can have some fun at the house?”

“Maybe.”

“I vote yes,” Tommy piped in. “All that talk about how great Barry is kind of got me going.” Barry shot him a grin, and he shrugged. “What? That thing you do with your hand is pretty ridiculous.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “How I agreed to date either of you is beyond me.”

“Have you _seen_ us?” Tommy replied with a wink.

“I try not to.”

Tommy winced. “Oof. Cold, Allen.”

The three of them laughed into the night as they walked side by side, most of the party already forgotten, their heads clear and hearts warm. It would be an interesting rest of the night, for sure.


End file.
